This is a flash card study utility where text for the front of the cards (the question) is stored into one column of a spreadsheet and text for the back (the answer) is stored in another column. Excel was chosen to use for the database because only a simple database is needed for this.

Cards are automatically shuffled randomly and the program reads an Excel file and presents the cards one at a time for study. When “Update” is clicked, the front of a card is presented. When clicked again, the back is shown. If you do not want to see this card again, click the “Archive” button. There is a menu selection to reset the deck so all cards will be available again.

The program stores an index of archived cards on exit so you can resume study after exiting and restarting the program. To change the cards, edit the spreadsheet entering the first line of each card in the row under the grayed row. The maximum length for each card is twenty rows with the last available row in the next grayed row. Enter as many new cards as you want. The only limitation is computer memory.

This is a Windows program. An executable file (cards.exe) is provided in addition to the source code. Put ‘cards.exe’ in the same folder as ‘cards.xlsx’ to use the program.

Let me know if you would like to contribute to this project. You can improve the code and content of the Python study cards. The spreadsheet could be duplicated as a template for new Python learning decks.

Jeffrey Willits T: @jnwillits